Wednesday, March 01, 2006

American Police State Wants $100 Million For Prisons In Iraq

By Elaine Meinel Supkis

$100 million for yet another prison in Iraq while our government is cutting funds for everything possible here at home, even things like port security, all is secondary. We can't rebuild New Orleans but we can build prisons even as prisons in Afghanistan riot and as Iraq is literally blowing up and burning to the ground around us, this is the only thing we are building in Iraq this year...a prison.

The U.S. State Department is winding down its $20 billion reconstruction program in Iraq and the only new rebuilding money in its latest budget request is for prisons, officials said on Tuesday.

"This is the one bit of construction we will be doing -- $100 million for additional bed capacity for the Iraqi legal system," he said.

So, the people of Iraq are rioting due to lack of prisons? And today, in court, they are accusing Saddam of running too many prisons due to revolts in Iraq? This level of insanity can't last much longer, can it?

I read today that an agency that tracks money going to welfare programs is being cut back. It only costs $7 million and Bush is saying it is too expensive even if it gets good information (a real no-no in Bushland!). Cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, cuts to vets health care, cuts to school loans, cuts everywhere but plenty of money for war and prisons so we can bring freedom to the Iraqis which seems to consist of locking them up in jail cells!

Meanwhile, our oil infrastructure isn't doing so hot, is it? From the NYT:

The shortages, amounting to 6 percent of the country's domestic production, have worsened a global picture of razor-thin margins of supply, playing a central part in keeping oil prices around $60 a barrel.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed or damaged 167 offshore platforms and 183 pipelines, shut down production for weeks and pushed prices to their highest levels since the fall of the shah of Iran led to the oil shock of the early 1980's. Nineteen movable well-drilling rigs snapped from their moorings and drifted, some as far as 60 miles.

By contrast, Hurricane Ivan, rated as one of the most severe storms in the gulf when it struck in 2004, destroyed just 7 platforms in shallow waters and damaged another 24 structures and 102 pipelines.

This belated story is one of the many "missing stories" from the last six months. I am glad the NYT finally noticed this. Of course, they fail to mention hurricane Dennis. Oil Platform Collapsing.

This is what the Titanic sinking looks like, energy-wise. Exxon/Mobile claim the hurricane didn't do this. So what did it? Sharks? Beach bums? Ecoterrorists? Bin Laden?

Well, whoever did this, if they can't fix it, this will be a major blow. The platform costs over a billion dollars to build, about what we spend a week in Iraq trying to pump oil there.

Gads. This world has gone daft, hasn't it?

Train carrying oil was blown up just yesterday in Iraq. And Americans killed, too. I passed by a website with a photo of this but can't find it now...it certainly isn't in American news! Nor is this platform collapse! You would imagine this would rate some level of interest but there is zero on the mainstream media but tons of talk about it on the net, on forums and blogs like mine which is where breaking news goes!

Bet it will make the news when the turtles carrying bottles arrive some day.

This was my story and I was the ONLY person to blog it that day, about the damage from Dennis that didn't hit the USA, only Mexico (we ignore Mexico!). Already, production was down before the bigger hurricanes blew in.

We need $100 million a month in refittting America for better energy use, solar panels on every roof, everywhere. Much more wind energy systems. Better house design. Building more prisons? NO! No....NO!

Mother Nature plans to slit our throats. We still refuse to sign any Kyoto type accords. From the BBC:

The global scientific body on climate change is expected to report soon that emissions from humankind is the only explanation for major changes on Earth.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) formerly said greenhouse gases were "probably" to blame.

Its next draft report will be sent to world governments next month.

The BBC has learnt the report will state that greenhouse gas emissions are the only explanation for changing patterns of weather across the globe.

So we are doing what?

Frantically looking for oil, frantically trying to pump oil, frantically putting Iraqis in prison so we can pump their oil. All this is not only futile, it is insanity.

And these prisons won't change what is happening in Iraq as it disintigrates. From the WP:

With sectarian violence rampant since last week's bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, the families have become symbols of an emerging trend in Iraq: the expulsion of Shiites from Sunni towns.

New, deadly attacks -- many of them apparently retaliatory sectarian assaults -- surged Tuesday, with 66 people killed, according to Iraqi police. The decision to lift a curfew in Baghdad on Monday appeared to have opened the way for a resumption of intense bombings, including explosions at three Shiite mosques that killed at least 19 people. Some of Tuesday's other victims included 23 people killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad as they waited in line to buy kerosene; five Iraqi soldiers killed in a car bombing in the capital's Zayona district; and one U.S. soldier killed by small-arms fire west of the capital, authorities and news agencies said.

Once a society gets to this point, prisons are pointless. The Russians tried this with Afghanistan and Chechnya and even leveling these lands only makes it worse.

The reason Russia is doing well today is entirely because of the sales of oil. They are like Saudi Arabia. If we left Iraq alone, they would be spending money the same way Russia is and they have no nukes despite the lies told by Powell.

Indeed, we need to put people in prison: the neo cons and the Bush gang. Rumsfeld. They all need to be arrested. And put on trial with Saddam.

Links to this post:

About Me

Born at Yerkes Observatory, grew up on many observatory mountains and secret government testing grounds, burr under the saddle of the Real Rulers of America since childhood, family black sheep with three bags of wool, pulled down more than one politician in life, winner of the "Struck by Lightning Indoors" award for most hits in lifetime, three direct and seven glancing blows. Now living on a mountain with horses and cats and dogs and chickens and a husband. Yikes.